The Beginning of the End
by BlackheartVII
Summary: Cloud, Tifa, Squall, Rinoa, Zidane, and Garnet form an unlikely group as they search for why they were summoned to this world. An ongoing story.
1. The Beginning of the End

'The Beginning of the End'  
  
Cloud's mind filled up with anger. This battle was taking too long, and he wanted to end it now. He could feel the   
surge of energy that came with rage, he knew its purpose. Cloud Strife smiled. Not an evil smile, not a happy smile, but an  
ending smile. He was ready to unleash his true power, and the dragon he was battling had no idea what was about to happen.   
Suddenly he saw a flash streak towards the dragon. Brilliant sparks of light began to emerge from where the streak stopped.  
He knew what had happened. He let his mind clear and sheathed his sword.   
  
"Tifa, you know I was about to unleash my limit, why did you have to kill it?" Cloud growled as he checked the corpse  
for items.  
  
"Hehehe, I couldnt help it," laughed Tifa as she began to strech. "I saw your face flushing red and I didnt want you  
to mess up your hair. One day your going to have to tell me how you get it to spike like that." Tifa Lockheart giggled. Her   
love for Cloud was apparent to everybody but him. Why couldn't he see what everybody else saw? Even Barret knew that she   
loved him. Was it really that hard to see? Then again, Cloud might know about her feelings, he just might not want to show it.  
What could she do to open up his heart?  
  
"You know my hair does this naturally," sighed Cloud. She was always asking silly questions like that. He knew she   
cared for him, as he cared for her. Did she love him? He thought she did. After all RedXIII was always telling him she does,  
but Cloud was not an emotional guy and didn't like to show his feelings. Of course he loved her. They had been friends since  
they were children. He had loved her since the first time he laid eyes upon her, but now was not the time to be thinking   
about feelings though. They had to get back to the Highwind. Tifa and him were knocked off the airship when they had tried to  
enter the center of the Earth. They were trying to reach the center, trying to get to that one mad man. Sephiroth. The name   
stinged his brain a million times. Sephiroth had to be stopped. His plans to destroy the Earth had to be stopped. Then Cloud  
would have his revenge. So many loved ones, taken away from him by one man. He could hardly believe anybody could be so evil,  
especially somebody he once considered a friend. "Ok Cloud," he thought to himself, "Now is not the time for one of your self  
pity trips. It's time to find the highwind." The sudden voice of Tifa brought him back to reality.  
  
"Come on leader," she said with a hint of humor. "Time for you to lead us back to the highwind."  
  
"You're right. Cid and the others must be worried by now, and if their not, then we will make them worry soon enough,"  
spoke Cloud with his voice of confidence. He was trained to be a soldier, he was trained to be a follower, but his comrades   
had seen more in him. They had appointed him leader of their party. They felt he was the best choice and he wasn't going to  
argue a losing battle. He had accepted leadership and had tried his best to fulfil the position. "Lets go," he said.  
  
As they began walking, Cloud noticed some wierd things happening. It seemed as if the enviroment itself was moving.  
Was it his eyes playing games on him, or was this really happening? Trees began to shift in and out of view, and then some   
just dissapeared. The birds were teleporting, or at least thats what it looked like to him. They would be flying in   
formation, then they would just warp forward several yards. What was going on?  
  
"Cloud....," whispered Tifa.  
  
"I know Tifa, I see it as well," replied Cloud.  
  
"What do you think it is?"  
  
"I dont know, this is something totally unknown to me."  
  
"Well, what should we do?"  
  
Cloud began to think about that. What should they do? Should they stop, and set up a camp for the night, or should  
they keep moving? Camp seemed like a good option, but what if this area was infected with some kind of spell. To keep moving  
was also a good choice, but what if they were just walking further into this mess. As he debated the answer in his mind, the  
world seemed to stop right there. Everything around them paused, as if frozen in time.  
  
"Tifa, are you alright?" he asked her.  
  
"Im fine, but it seems like somebody hit the pause button on this place," she replied.  
  
Cloud chuckled. Pause button, wouldnt life be great if there was such a thing. To be able to freeze time would be   
quite a power, but one he would never have, or ever want. Suddenly everything around them started fading in and out and  
leaving black spaces. The water kept shifting as if it was moving by some unknown force. Tifa moved closer to Cloud for   
comfort. She was scared, he could sense that. In the distance he could see a white light coming towards them. He grabbed   
Tifa and held her tight.  
  
"Whatever happens dont let go!" he yelled as the light blanketed over them. His mind became clear, and he felt like  
they were flying. Time stood still. What was this place? Then, as abrubtly as the light came, it was gone. Cloud opened his  
eyes to see a beach. Tifa was beside him, and the air was clear. Where they were, he had no idea. Cloud also became aware of  
others around them. He moved his eyes from the water to the sand to see four strange people. One was a woman of extreme   
beauty, almost the rival of Tifa's. Her most noticable feature, though, was her hair. She had a much darker shade of black   
hair than Tifa. Her blue vest had a faint image of angel wings upon the back, and in her hands was a weapon much like Yuffie   
wielded, a type of chakra. The woman was not alone. Beside her stood a very tall man. He also had black hair, about as dark   
as her's, but it looked much shinier, as if some kind of gel was in it. He held what appeared to be a sword behind his back,  
but the sword's handle was that of a gun. It also had a trigger and a barrel, as if it was designed to fire bullets as well   
as slash. Cloud looked into the mans face, and looked into his eyes. They showed pride, power, and strength, but also love.  
He loved the woman standing beside him. Moving on, he saw another woman. She was very young, looked like she was still a   
teenager. She had short hair that seemed recently cropped and held a staff in front of her. She seemed too frail to be a   
fighter, probably more of a magic user he thought. She was standing beside a very strange looking boy. Cloud had never seen   
a human with a tail before, but thats what it appeared to be. The boy held a dagger in each hand, and his body appeared to  
be slender, yet muscular, as if he was fast but also packed a punch. This was a very odd bunch of people, and he wondered   
how Tifa and him had arrived at this place. None of them talked, they all remained quiet, as if they had just went thru the   
same experience that Tifa and Cloud had just gone through. The silence was deafening, and all he could think of was what was  
going to happen next....  
  
End of Part 1  
By Blackheart_VII  
Stay Tuned for Part 2 


	2. Alas, Tears can not undo Time

'Alas, Tears can not undo Time'  
  
Rinoa often wondered where it all started, this thing called fate. A long time ago she thought she was destined to   
fall in love with her first crush, but that was not at all true. Instead she fell in love with a person the exact opposite  
of herself, a person she thought was a jerk. Squall and her went through a very great deal together, and yet they still  
could not speak those words to each other. She wondered when would be the time they would? It seems like forever they were  
walking in that castle, looking for the sorceress. Killing the sorceress would not end the cycle, however, and the party did  
not agree on what should be done about that. Rinoa had already made up her mind though...after killing the sorceress she   
would take her powers, and try to find a way to kill herself, ending the cycle of pain. The others knew nothing of her plans  
and she intended to keep it that way.   
  
They had split up, Squall and her, to cover more of the grounds castle. Squall had picked her to go with him, and for  
that she felt great joy. Did he pick her cause she was weaker than the rest of them and he intended to guard her, or did he  
pick her for another reason? She hoped the second choice was the reason.  
  
"Where could she be Squall? We've been searching for hours." she whined to Squall in the silence of the darkness.  
  
"Dunno." he said quickly.  
  
"What if we never find her? This is a very large castle." she asked.  
  
"Then we dont find her." he said coldly. She sensed he was growing impatient, and his short answers were nothing less  
than what he normally gave. He projected himself as a lone wolf, but she knew better. He was a man with much emotion, he just  
lacked a way to express them.   
  
"Well what do you suggest we do?" she asked again, as she was growing impatient as well, and tired.  
  
"Keep looking" he answered. As soon as he finished speaking she heard some bells ringing. Puzzled, they both took a   
look around. The bells continued to chime in harmony. "Lets head towards that music," ordered Squall "and pick up the pace."  
Squall had a bad feeling about this, the bells ringing were all too unexpected. He was tired of looking for this sorceress  
and wanted to end this quickly. He ordered the party to split up into 3 groups, with Zell and Quistis in one, and Selphie  
and Irvine in the other. He had chosen Rinoa to come with him, as he felt better with her by his side. He also felt feelings  
towards her that he could not express, or fully understand for that matter. He knew he cared for her, but how could he show  
it without leaving himself open to the pain of emotions? Emotions, he thought, were for the weak at heart and he was not  
weak. Training to be a SeeD had showed him that, as he beat his rival Siefer and earned the leadership of the whole garden.   
He had also won the heart of Rinoa, or so he hoped.  
  
The bells suddenly stopped, as Rinoa and he entered a large, church like room. In the corner he saw the largest  
monster he had ever seen, a huge dragon like robot with 4 legs, 2 arms, and a huge tail. It also saw them, as it roared with  
a noise that caused all the hairs on Squall's neck to stand on end.  
  
"Squall! Its coming for us!" screamed Rinoa as she pulled out her chakra and he his gunblade. Battle seemed invietable  
and seemed like this one was to be a long one. He rushed towards the creature and sliced at one of his legs, firing a bullet  
off as he made contact with the flesh. The bullet seemed to bounce right off the skin, and his attack seemed to have no effect.  
He backed off as Rinoa called upon Shiva. Shiva materialized out of thin air, and quickly unleashed her frozen attack. As the  
icicles headed towards the monster, he just stood there and waited. Out of no where, a white light flashed, and everything   
stopped moving. The beast was not moving, nor was Shiva. Rinoa tried to talk to the guardian force, but it seemed suspended  
in motion. Even the icicles were not moving. Squall went over and touched them, and felt they were not cold at all. They felt  
like plastic.  
  
"Rinoa something is very wrong here." he said to Rinoa, as he looked around the room. Everthing seemed frozen, but  
them. The white light that appeared was also growing in size, engulfing the whole area around them in a dazzling bright glow.  
  
"Squall help me!" she screamed as the light moved over her. Squall ran towards her as her body began to fall foward.  
He reached for her and found her slumped body in his arms. He hugged her and all was white. When the light faded, Rinoa and  
he were on a beach. Around him stood people he had never seen before. To one side of him was two very young kids, a boy with  
a tail and a girl with very short hair. Squall thought the boy was some sort of ape man, and the girl seemed noble in a way.  
To the other side was two older people, a woman with very dark black hair and a man with a very big sword. Squall was amazed  
that the man could even weild a weapon so big. Silence fell over them all, and he wondered what was to become of Rinoa and him.  
End of Part 2  
By Blackheart_VII  
Stay tuned for Part 3 


	3. Visioning the Future is Impossible

'Visioning the Future is Impossible'  
  
"Hey stop playing around up there Zidane, were supposed to be looking for Steiner and I doubt hes up in that tree!"  
shouted Garnet as she watched Zidane swiftly climb to the roof of the home. How did they get stranded in this town? Onc second  
they were still with the main group, traveling to Terra in hopes of finding answers to questions they could not solve, and the  
next moment they were engulfed in a brilliant white light and warped to this barron village. There seemed to be nobody around,  
as if all the villagers were away from town, or worse, dead. Garnet usually didn't think so negatively at first, but the past  
few weeks had made her grown up so fast. The death of her mother, the queen, her acquiring the throne at such an early age, the  
constant monster attacks caused by the fog generators, everything that could go wrong seemed to. The only bright spot in her  
life seemed to be the one thing she thought she would never find, love. Garnet didn't think love could happen so suddenly for  
the youth, but here it was, and with a tail at that! Zidane, the mysterious thief that had tried to steal her away from her  
kindgom, suprisingly the same kingdom she was trying to flee from. Was destiny something real, or was it just a strange twist  
that they found each other this way? Whatever the circumstances, she was happy and suprised that she had come to rely upon him  
so much. Things she could not share with anybody, she could share with him. Why was that? She had no idea. Garnet looked up at  
Zidane with a smile and shook her head, only him.  
  
"If playing around is scanning out the area around this town, then yes, I am playing." kidded Zidane as he looked down  
warmly upon her. He was one of those romantic fools that believed in love at first sight, and this had been the case upon the   
first glance. Imagine a thief falling in love with the very princess he was sent to kidnap. Zidane still wondered how she  
managed to get of his grasp when they first bumbed into each other. Maybe he let her run? He did enjoy a good chase, and thats  
what she gave him. Love was like a great chase, with someone always running from it while the other rushes to it. He was rushing  
to it always, but perhaps Garnet was running from it. He thought so.  
  
"Well what do you see up there, oh mighty climber of all things that are there." chuckled Zidane.  
  
"Nothing, its like this whole land is empty," answered Zidane "Nobody around. This doesn't make sense Garnet, where are  
the others? Surely we are not alone in this world."  
  
"I doubt it, there has to be somebody around. Look for a place so we can rest, this constent search has got me more than  
a little tired." shouted Garnet. They had been searching for hours for signs of life, and had found none. She was getting tired,   
and wanted to restore her stamina.  
  
"Found one. Its a few yards due north, a beach. That will make for good relaxing and a fine background to view. Catch me   
Garnet, im coming down!" laughed Zidane as he jumped down to the ground. Garnet made a mock motion with her hands out, as if she  
was really going to try to catch him. As he came closer, she jumped back. He landed on his feet and dusted himself off. "Hello   
your majesty, why did you not catch me?"  
  
"Oh stop it you!" she said as she pushed him away. "Let us be on our way, my feet scream for a break."  
  
"At your command." Zidane said with a little bow. He waited until she went forward a little bit before he started following  
her. Silence followed them to. Nothing moved, save them. What kinda land was this, where motion seemed to be extinct and life  
was silent? The beach appeared to be a bastion of soltitude as well. Garnet sat down and hugged her knees to her chest. Zidane  
could tell she was tired, but more than tired she was worried. He, however, was less than worried. Orphaned at birth, he had   
always been traveling to strange lands. This was just another one of those. Only problem is he didn't know where they were or   
how to get out. He started staring at her. This would be a good place to talk, he thought, with no distractions. Maybe he should  
tell her how he truely feels. "Garnet, theres something I want to talk to you about."  
  
"What is it Zidane?" she asked.  
  
"Well, I don't really know how to say this. I mean, I've never talked about it with you, but.." Zidane said but quickly  
stopped. A white bright light was shining in front of them. Garnet jumped up and backed away. Zidane reached out and tried to touch  
the light, but it seemed like nothing was there. Suddenly, some figures materialized out of the light. Zidane moved to Garnet and   
stood by her side. They both covered their eyes as the light flickered brightly one final time. When they opened them again, four  
people stood in front of them. A man with spikey blond hair caught his eye first. The man held a blade bigger than that of Stieners.  
A woman stood beside him, with black hair much like Garnets. Another man was there to, he wielded a blade as well, but one with some  
strange handle with an open hole at the end of it. He wondered how that blade was useful with all its flaws. The final person was a   
woman of great beauty. She had long flowing hair, as long as Garnets was before she cut it. Garnet and he stood there speechless, unsure  
what was to come of these strange events.  
  
End of Chapter 3, stay tuned for Chapter 4.  
Blackheart_VII 


	4. Decisions Made Quickly are Futile

'Decisions Made Quickly are Futile'  
  
The six strangers looked at each other with a little bit of distrust. After all, they had no idea how they  
ended up on this beach. Suspecion went through them all, each thinking maybe the others had been the reason they were here.   
Squall started eyeballing the sword that Cloud wielded so easily. Zidane pondered at the idea of the hollow blade that Squall  
dawned. Tifa looked at Rinoa and Garnet, thinking them twins. Rinoa and Garnet stood bewildered at the others appearance. Cloud  
studied them all, not trusting anybody except for Tifa.  
  
"OK which one of you summoned us here?" Cloud asked.  
  
"It wasn't us, we were just resting here at this beach when you guys just appeared in front of us" answered Garnet.  
  
"People don't just appear outta thin air. One of you had to cast some powerful magic to do what you did to Rinoa and I,  
so who casted the spell?" spoke Squall in a voice that hinted at the edge of anger.  
  
"Don't look at me, im just a thief." replied Zidane as he leaned back on his tail.  
  
"My materia is not that strong, neither is Clouds. So it wasn't us." said Tifa.  
  
"Maybe none of us here did it, but somebody had to. Squall, do you think Ultimecia is behind this? She is the great   
sorceress after all." Rinoa asked Squall.  
  
"Dunno." answered Squall.  
  
"Who's Ultimecia?" Garnet asked.  
  
"None of your bus......" began Squall before he was interupted by Rinoa.  
  
"Shes the sorceress. A being of imense magical powers, bent on destroying the world." replied Rinoa.  
  
"Never heard of her. Zidane and I were after a man trying to destroy the world as well, his name is Kuja." said Garnet.  
  
"Were after a man named Sephiroth. He's also trying to destroy the world. I wonder why we have never ran into each  
other before then, since were after the same goal." spoke Tifa.  
  
"Well isn't this lovely. Seems we have a bunch of heros after the same goal, but it doesn't seem like any of us are from  
here. I could care less about this Ultimecia or Kuja. Im only intrested in going back to where we came from. Any of you have  
some ideas how?" Cloud said strictly.  
  
"Hey don't be talking like only your mission is important. We have a mission as well. Who do you think you are?" yelled   
Squall.  
  
"Hes Cloud and Im Tifa. Don't mind him, hes not very friendly." answered Tifa.  
  
"Heheh, thats OK. Squall here is not Mr. Nice Guy either. Im Rinoa." kidded Rinoa.  
  
"Zidane here, master thief! And this is Garnet, queen of Alexandria." said Zidane as Garnet did a bow.  
  
"Ok now that the formalities are over, lets come up with a plan here so we can all go back home." ordered Cloud.  
  
"Who appointed you leader?" Squall asked biterly.  
  
"Nobody, but I'm sure I have more experience than you do leading a group." answered Cloud.  
  
"Thats true, Cloud is a good leader." spoke Tifa.  
  
"So is Squall, hes the leader of SeeD." Rinoa said mator of factly.   
  
"Zidane has proven a great leader as well." Garnet added.  
  
"Hey Garnet don't throw me into the fight, this is between those two!" Zidane quickly said.  
  
"Ok spikey, why don't you let a professional do this." Squall said with authority.  
  
"Listen slim, you think I don't know how to lead? What makes you a professional?" asked Cloud with anger.  
  
"This blade does." Squall said as he pulled out his gun-blade "Care to see who the better swordsman is?"  
  
"Sounds like we finally have a plan." Cloud said as he drew his sword in front of him. "Whoever wins the fight is leader.  
Agreed?"  
  
"Agreed." Squall answered as he stepped forward towards Cloud. Rinoa and Tifa just sighed and stepped back, as Zidane   
looked on with excitement. The two men stepped forward and got into fighting position. As they both eyed each other, Garnet   
jumped in between them.  
  
"Guys look!" she sceamed as everybody looked towards the direction she was pointing. Hugh columns of smoke were appearing  
in the distance. A few tall flames flickered below. A fire was blazing outta control. The party could hear a few screams for help  
coming from the area. Cloud sheated his sword.  
  
"We gotta see whats going on over there, everybody lets go." he said as he started running towards the direction of the  
smoke. The rest of the party followed, not knowing what danger lurked ahead. 


End file.
